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These crosses are used primarily or exclusively in heraldry and do not necessarily have any special meanings commonly associated with them. Not all the crosses of heraldry and the crosses with commonly known contexts are listed below.

Picture

Cross name

Description

The cross as heraldic "ordinary"

The basic heraldic cross (the default if there are no additional specifying words) has arms of roughly equal length, adapted to fit the particular shape of the shield, extending to the edges of the shield (or subdivision thereof)—as in the coat of the City of London.

A cross which does not extend to the edges of the shield is couped or humetty, in heraldic terminology, as in the coat, flag and badge of Geiger, Canada; it is shown with all its limbs of equal length and is also sometimes called a Greek cross.

A cross with the ends of the arms bottony (or botonny), i.e. shaped like a trefoil—and so it is sometimes called a cross trefly. It occurs counterchanged on the flag of Maryland; a saltire botonny can be seen in the coat and flag of the Village of New Maryland, New Brunswick; and a Latin cross trefly can be seen in the coat of Isidore Popowych.

Upright cross with truncated angled arms; essentially a variant of the swastika; uncommon, but can be found in the crest of Gordon of Hallhead (Scots Public Register volume 31, page20). Also known as a gammadion cross, consisting of four capital Greek letters Γ (gamma).

The symbol of the CrusaderKingdom of Jerusalem, which existed for almost two hundred years after the First Crusade; in the rendering at left, the large cross is shown slightly "potent" (i.e., with T-shaped ends), but that is not always the case. The four smaller crosses are said to symbolize either the four books of the Gospel or the four directions in which the Word of Christ spread from Jerusalem. Alternatively, all five crosses can symbolize the five wounds of Christ during the Passion. This symbol is used in the flag of Georgia. Also found in the coat of arms of the Papal Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem, Vatican City (matriculated in Scotland as "Argent; a Jerusalem cross cantoned between four crosses couped, gules"—Scots Public Register, volume 75, page 112)—to be seen at various EOHSJ websites; also in the Canadian coat of Robert Gerald Guest (Canadian Public Register Volume III, page 85).

With arms which narrow towards the center, and are indented at the ends, also known as the eight-pointed cross (with no curved lines). Perhaps best known as a badge of the Order of Malta; whether connected with the Order or not, it is a common heraldic device—found in the coat of the London Borough of Hackney and the Canadian coat of Eric Lawrence Barry; as a "cross of eight points" to be found in the crest of Robert G. Loftus, Canada.

A cross patonce is more or less intermediate between a cross pattée and a cross flory (or fleury). The ends of its limbs are trifurcated into leaf shapes, and seems to come in two sorts: one where the limbs are the same width all along as in the coat of Godfrey McCance Gransden; and the other where the limbs gently widen from the centre (but do not curve) as in the coat of John Chiu (both of Canada). A mediaeval example is shown on the seal of William de Fortibus(d.1260)

A cross with a square at the intersection point (sometimes with a smaller relative size than shown in the illustration); found in the coats of Francesco Maestri (Canada) and Warwick District Council, England.

A "cross voided throughout" has the central parts of the limbs cut with the colouring behind it showing through—as in the coat of the City of Lacombe, Alberta. The centre may be filled with another tincture as in the coat of the Town of Abbotsford, British Columbia.

The Cross of Saint James is similar to a cross flory fitchy, but is more sword-like. (The version shown on the left is the one used by the order of Santiago.) Found in the Scottish arms of Mulino from Venezuela (Scots Public Register volume 87, page 20) and in the coats of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain; and Caracas, Venezuela; Santiago de Tete, Mozambique.

Cross erminée

A cross erminée is a cross of four ermine-spots, with the heads meeting, sharing their spots. Historically borne by Hurston (Cheshire, England) c. 1490 and others[4]